These are interesting times for classical music, and some funders are keenly attuned to helping this field evolve and broaden its mission. Fostering more diversity among musicians is one item on the to-do list.

Mellon awards close to $1 million to the Nashville Symphony's Accelerando program, which creates professional opportunities for musicians from ethnic communities that are underrepresented in today’s orchestras.

Mellon's premise is simple. A career in the arts needn't be an all-or-nothing proposition. If your efforts at becoming a world-class pianist fall flat, there should be other options beyond throwing in the towel and going to law school.

Thanks to a $900,000 Mellon grant, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's new fellowship program will attract graduate-level musicians from underrepresented populations and equip them for the professional orchestra world.

The innovative program adheres to the vision of its primary funder, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, who's been doling out quite a bit of money as of late in an effort to drag opera into the 21st century.

The theatre's 2014 fiscal performance would make any Big City organization swoon. And while it would be convenient to attribute their success to a Mellon grant, we consider such an interpretation to be a bit too simplistic.

As you read this, countless opera companies are working tirelessly to make the art form accessible to new audiences across the country. There's no silver bullet to accomplish this, but when a foundation like Mellon opens their checkbook in approval, it's obviously very important to take a closer look at that company's approach.

Who would want to see an operatic rendition of Steven King's "The Shining?" The answer, of course, is "pretty much everybody," and it speaks to how the Minnesota Opera is working to redefine this classic art form.

The Cleveland Orchestra announced it received a $2.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the largest to the orchestra in the Mellon Foundation's history. And why did the foundation ultimately select the orchestra? To quote the foundation's press release, it was "the type of programming and partnerships that help distinguish the orchestra from its peers." In other words, this isn't your grandfather's orchestra.